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U.S. NEWS A3
Monday 1 February 2016

Donald Trump faces his Iowa test

Associated Press normally be caught dead do better than the polls Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during
CLINTON, Iowa (AP) — For at caucus events. And so suggest. And as he trav- a campaign event at the Adler Theater, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016,
Donald Trump, Iowa’s cau- we feel really good about eled across the state in the in Davenport, Iowa.
cuses will be the first test of our chances, we feel re- final weekend before vot-
whether the celebrity busi- ally good about our reach ing, Trump had a quiet air Associated Press
nessman and political new- and I think you’re going to of satisfaction, with seem-
comer will be able to trans- have a surprise on a cau- ingly little worry about the
form the massive crowds cus night.” Trump, who ap- outcome. “We began this
he has drawn throughout pears to have emerged journey — it’s a journey,
the election into votes as from a dead-heat with rival we did it together — and
the U.S. primary season Ted Cruz to re-capture his it’s been an amazing ex-
gets underway Monday. position atop state polls, perience,” he told a crowd
Trump’s outsider candi- has done little to minimize gathered in the auditorium
dacy has upended the expectations, predicting of a middle school in Clin-
Republican establishment, again and again that he’ll ton Saturday.q
largely dominating the
polls in the race to nomi-
nate the party’s presi-
dential candidate ahead
of November elections.
Meanwhile, establishment-
supported candidates
like former Florida Gov.
Jeb Bush and Florida Sen.
Marco Rubio have failed
to take-off. Trump spoke
of the importance of Iowa
for his campaign and, in a
rare moment of introspec-
tion at a rally in Norwalk,
acknowledged the poten-
tial “psychological” conse-
quences of a loss here.
“They say bad psycho-
logical things happen if
you lose,” he said. “I don’t
know what the impact is.”
The outcome likely rests
on turnout and whether
Trump’s campaign is able
to lure the non-traditional
caucus-goers who may
have never participated in
the caucus process to the
polls. Some are skeptical
Trump has the organiza-
tional structure to pull off a
commanding win.
Doug Watts, a Republican
strategist who recently
parted ways with Trump
rival Ben Carson’s cam-
paign, a win for Trump
is “pretty critical.” If he
doesn’t win, Watts said,
“people will start saying,
‘Hmm, well, maybe he’s
not so inevitable. Maybe
Marco Rubio can climb
into a solid second in
New Hampshire.’ Chuck
Laudner the architect of
Trump’s Iowa campaign
expressed confidence the
voters would turn out for his
candidate. “There’s noth-
ing about this campaign
that’s like all the rest or
any of those in the past,”
he said. “We do things dif-
ferent. And we reach out
to people that wouldn’t